No matter how complete your home PC bundle may be, the world of PC peripherals presents a lot of enticing add-ons. CD burners, digital cameras, scannersthe list goes on and on. In every category, there are dozenseven hundredsof options. With an eye on bang for the buck (after all, you presumably just dropped about $1,000 on a PC), we did some leg work and came up with a few products that give you the extra features and fun factor to round out your home PC experience.

Digital cameras are in these days, ranging in price from $50 to several thousand. Although admittedly not on the high end, the Ezonics EZMega Cam ($99.95 direct) is a bona fide USB-connected megapixel camera that provides a relatively inexpensive primer on digital photography. Simple to set up and use, the EZMega Cam stores 12 1-megapixel shots, 50 800- by 600-pixel shots, or up to 300 320- by 240-pixel shots, and it even shoots up to 2 minutes of 3-fps (3-frame-per-second) video. It also comes with Ulead Photo Express 4.0 photo-editing software. (Ezonics Corp., 925-468-0818, www.ezonics.com.)

For the artist in everyone, we recommend the Wacom Graphire2 ($99.95 direct), a USB-connected tablet that includes a wireless, battery-free mouse and a two-button stylus. The latter acts essentially as a pen, giving you greater control of drawing and photo-editing applications. (Wacom Technology Co., 800-922-9348, www.wacom.com.)

If your home media creation goals are more ambitious, and you've plunked down a few hundred bucks on a video camera, chances are that your camera incorporates the fast throughput of an IEEE 1394 connection. If your desktop doesn't include such a port, have no fear. Although none of the PCs in our roundup have the port (except the Apple unit), the Dazzle DV-Editor ($69.99 direct) has three such ports in easily installable PCI card form. The DV-Editor also includes Ulead VideoStudio 4.0 video-editing software. Of course, if you know you'll need an IEEE 1394 port, then by all means purchase a machine that already includes it. (Dazzle Multimedia, 510-360-2300, www.dazzle.com.)

Also on the video front is the ATI TV Wonder USB Edition ($99 direct). Not only will the TV Wonder convert a cable or antenna signal for watching TV shows on your desktop, but it also lets you plug in a standard VHS camcorder or VCR. You can also use the TV Wonder to turn your hard drive into an easily programmable digital VCR to record shows in several different compressed video formats. (ATI Technologies, 905-882-2600, www.ati.com.)

In addition to visual media, you may want to explore music creation with the Apzu DM2 Digital Music Mixer ($99.99 list). The DM2 looks like a set of mixing tables. It plugs into your desktop via USB and includes mixing software, prerecorded tracks, and a scratch wheel on the side of each platter. (Apzu, www.my-dm2.com.)

Of course, it is hard to get away from gaming with home PCs. PC game pads have been around for quite a while, but one of our favorites is the Microsoft Sidewinder Game Pad Pro ($34.95 direct)a sleek, silver controller with a hybrid digital/analog directional control. (Microsoft Corp., 425-882-8080, www.microsoft.com.)

Finally, because your PC has limited expansion capabilityand many of the home PCs we tested average only two to four USB portsthe D-Link DSB-H7 ($59.99 list), a seven-port USB hub, is a great way to expand the number of peripherals your computer can accommodate. So load up your system with digital cameras, headsets, gaming controls, and tablets; the DSB-H7 is self-powered, so you can minimize the number of cables dangling from the top of your desk. With all the extra stuff added, that's a good thing. (D-Link Systems, 800-326-1688, www.dlink.com.)

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